Noroi: The Curse (2005)

Synopsis:

A documentary maker specialized in paranormal events investigates the case of several people supposedly affected by a deadly curse.

Noroi: The Curse is a ghost/demon related found footage whose dark and creepy atmosphere remind a lot of The Blair Witch Project. The way it is filmed however, following paranormal events in the form of a journalist investigation, reminds more of the ghost found footage Lake Mungo.

In a similar way to these films, Noroi features almost no gore or bloody scenes at all. Instead, the film uses a sum of freaky characters, clever acting and tense moments to build a heavy suspense. It has its lot of useless jumpy surprises too.

Considering that the budget of the movie was around 2 million, which is quite a lot for a found footage type (Blair Witch = 0.6 M; Grave Encounter = 1 M), I find both the quality of the film, and its special effects, disappointing.

The first half is really long, taking ages to set up the story. Luckily, the last 30 minutes bring on the creepy bits and manage to be truly scary, especially the final scene. But overall, the great finish does not compensate for the 90 minutes it took for the story to be set. Mixed feeling for me on this movie that so many describes as one of the scariest Asian films.